Dionysus
Dionysus is the Greek God of the vine, grape harvest, winemaking and wine, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, fertility and the theater, and is one of the gods of the Recurrence, symbolised by an icon of a bunch of grapes. He is known to have appeared in the 450s, 1920s, and 2010s Recurrences. History Dionysus' real name is Umar. Before joining the Pantheon himself, Dionysus was a fan of the Morrigan, and befriended Baphomet on the way to one of her gigs. Baphomet, who was also still human at the time, hitched a ride with Dionysus and his friends to the performance, and told them that he used to date her. Synopsis The Faust Act Dionysus was later present at the 10 January gig where the Morrigan and Baphomet's argument was interrupted by Laura. He attempted to capture footage of the Morrigan at this gig, but only saw a person in a hospital bed instead. Fandemonium On 14 April 2014, someone outside of Fantheon was handing out fliers advertising his performance, suggesting his incarnation was only shortly beforehand. He had been advised by the Morrigan to stay underground. His Underground Dionysus Kiss Story Party XI took place on 17 May, and was attended by Laura and most of the gods. Commercial Suicide Dionysus was angered by the Pantheon's treatment of the Morrigan following Inanna's death and protested her imprisonment. He also expressed doubts about Baphomet's complicity in Tara's murder. Rising Action Dionysus fell ill at one of his parties and was forced to stop the hive-mind, provoking the anger of his party-goers. He left to get a sugary drink and was confronted with Baphomet, who pulled him down into the Underground. The Morrigan and Persephone were also there, and he met Minerva for the first time. They explained to him that Ananke was responsible for the murders and both Baphomet and the Morrigan expressed their belief in Persephone. However, they were then attacked by Baal, Sakhmet and Amaterasu, who had come to rescue Minerva on Ananke's orders. Dionysus was out of his element in the battle, not being a fighter. The other gods were successful in their attempt, but left behind Minerva's owl, which contained files relating to her investigation into Ananke. One of these files contained unwatched footage of Ananke confessing that she planned to kill Minerva, to their horror. They immediately set off for Valhalla in pursuit of the others. They continued their battle there, and Dionysus brought along a weaponised version of his dancefloor to help them in the fight. Dionysus even joined in the battle himself, determined that nobody would die. He attacked Woden, and destroyed his mechanical golem in order to defeat the giant Valkyrie that was currently decimating their forces. The battle was halted by Urdr's arrival, as she persuaded them to prioritise Minerva's safety over the fighting. Dionysus called off his dancers and they went to save her from Ananke, arriving just in time to prevent her being sacrificed. Once they had captured Ananke, Persephone violently killed her, to the shock and horror of the other gods. They decided to call it self-defence, though Dionysus seemed uncomfortable with this decision. Imperial Phase (I) Following Ananke's death, the Great Darkness became an increasingly serious threat. The gods held a meeting to decide what was to be done, and though Dionysus voted alongside Urdr and Woden to do further research, the majority ruled that they would each do what they want. Dionysus, Urdr and Woden decided to continue researching anyway. They started studying the gods' performances, and eventually got Dionysus' dancefloor hivemind to work on Urdr, who had been very resistant to it. They also decided to throw a concert to power up Ananke's machine, which was still a complete mystery. Meanwhile, Dionysus threw a party for Amaterasu, who had just started a new cult. However, the party was interrupted when Baphomet showed up, and it became evident he had been abused by the Morrigan. Dionysus went after him. The party ended disastrously with Sakhmet committing mass murder. Imperial Phase (II) Dionysus accompanied Urdr and Persephone to the Underground in order to get Baphomet and Morrigan's help with finding Sakhmet. Morrigan wouldn't let them see Baphomet, but Dionysus refused to go without seeing him and sat in the dark for several days until he turned up. Baphomet defended the Morrigan, and gleaned from their conversation that Dionysus had fallen in love with Urdr. The concert went ahead, despite Dionysus' exhaustion, and he brought tens of thousands of people into his hivemind. Unfortunately, Woden had other plans for the concert, and knocked Dionysus out, taking over the hivemind in order to control people. Dionysus woke up and fought back, making his way over to Woden, concerned for the crowd and the Norns. This proved futile, however, as the Valkyries attacked him, rendering him brain-dead. Urdr attempted to save him but it was too late. Appearance Dionysus is a bald, dark-skinned man with a laurel wreath tattooed on his head. His eyes are coloured grey and red, and when performing they turn black all over, as do the eyes of everyone his powers are affecting. He comes from a Desi background.Kieron Gillen on Tumblr He wears a t-shirt that reads "YOL∞", as well as an acid badge. Personality Dionysus' core motivation in life is making others happy, even at great personal cost. Of performing, Dionysus said that he wants people to be able to remember a night of happiness, even if they can't remember the details. However, as a result of his power he is no longer "alone in his own head", and he doesn't sleep. He very rarely stops performing, and prioritises the needs of his dance-floor over the wishes over the Pantheon. He has described himself as being neither a fighter nor a lover. Relationships Baphomet Dionysus is friends with Baphomet, and was dubious about his apparent role in Tara's death. He joined forces with him against Ananke. The Morrigan Dionysus was a fan of the Morrigan before becoming a god, and remained one even after his incarnation. They are friends, and he was unhappy about her imprisonment. His bias towards the Morrigan seems to be crumbling as he becomes aware of how controlling and harmful she is towards Baphomet. Woden Dionysus has an antagonistic relationship with Woden and was repulsed by his objectification of Tara. In return, Woden considers Dionysus an enemy. Powers & Abilities *'Hivemind Possession': Dionysus has the ability to create a hivemind dance floor, which causes the participants to glow different colors, with each member seemingly following his command. He is also able to possess members of the hivemind and speak through them, even gods, for a short period of time. Dionysus has such a grasp on his participants that they are able to form a large army powerful enough to challenge Woden's giant Valkyrie, implying he may provide them with some tolerance or endurance. Such an ability means members of the hivemind lose all sense of time, and are transfixed in a state of sound despite there seemingly being no distinct music, or even noise. The major side effect of his abilities is his lack of sleep. Therefore, to continue performing he requires a high amount of sugar intake after a certain amount of time. Similar to Tara, though not to the same extent, his participants become less enthused when he ceases performing. *'Weapon Creation': He is able to summon a large colored staff that splits into powerful nun chucks for him to use in combat, which are strong enough to destroy Woden's mechanical golem. *'Underground Teleportation': Being an underworld god, it is likely he is able to travel to the Underground, but is yet to do so of his own accord. Mythology Dionysus is based on the Greek god of the vine, grape harvest, winemaking and wine, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, fertility and the theater. Quotes Dialogue }} Past Recurrences 450s Recurrence Dionysus appeared during the 450s Recurrence, though he was more commonly known by his Roman name of Bacchus. He was an actor and the lover of Lucifer. He died sometime before Lucifer’s takeover of Rome, and was hallucinated by Lucifer as he grew increasingly hedonistic throughout his “imperial phase”. 1920s Recurrence Dionysus appeared during this Recurrence as a young man who was a living embodiment of the concept of Cubism, modeled after painter Pablo Picasso. He was constantly breaking up into cubes and reassembling, which became more pronounced as the end of the Recurrence approached, and appeared to be extremely painful. He was the second to die in this Recurrence, killed by a laser set up as a security measure by Lucifer. His skull was the one that was sliced in half as a result of this. Trivia *In addition to being the symbol of acid house, Dionysus' badge is also the symbol of Watchmen.Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine #8 *Kieron Gillen has described Dionysus as "the closest WicDiv has to a saint", and is the character that causes him to think “I wish I could save you.”Day 3: WicDiv Challenge - Tumblr *In issue 26, Dionysus was confirmed as asexual. However, he is not aromantic, having displayed romantic interest in Cassandra. Appearances References Category:Characters Category:450s Pantheon Category:2010s Pantheon Category:Gods